Emergency lock release

ABSTRACT

An emergency lock release for a door having a fixed outer handle and a latch releasing pushbutton mounted in the fixed handle on the outer side of a door, such as a bathroom door. The pushbutton is operatively coupled to a latch locking mechanism mounted on the inner side of a door and is provided with a recess for reception of a tool by means of which the pushbutton may be rotated to unlock the latch mechanism from the opposite or outer side of the door, when a person at the inner side becomes incapacitated or cannot otherwise unlock the door from the inner side thereof.

United States Patent Waldo 1 July 18,1972

[54] EMERGENCY LOCK RELEASE ['72] Inventor: Russell W. Waldo, St. Paul, Minn.

[73] Assignee: Ideal Security Hardware Corporation, St.

Paul, Minn.

22 Filed: Dec.23, 1970 21 Appl.No.: 100,855

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,364,706 1/1968 Adam ..70/l50 3,121,319 2/1964 Webster ..70/l50 Primary Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe Attorney-Merchant & Gould [57] ABSTRACT An emergency lock release for a door having a fixed outer handle and a latch releasing pushbutton mounted in the fixed handle on the outer side of a door, such as a bathroom door. The pushbutton is operatively coupled to a latch locking mechanism mounted on the inner side of a door and is provided with a recess for reception 'of a tool by means of which the pushbuttonmay be rotated to unlock the latch mechanism from the opposite or outer side of the door, when a person at the inner side becomes incapacitated or cannot otherwise unlock the door from the inner side thereof.

3 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures Patented July 18, 1972 3,677,591

/ I I, I i 4 Russ/51.1. WI WALDO I 1. J BY 1 f *i? q \g Z5 1: 7 AT T OFrNE Y5 V EMERGENCY LOCK RELEASE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is in the nature of an improvement over the lock release mechanisms heretofore produced for opening doors, such as bathroom doors, having inner locks normally not easily unlocked from the outer side. Release mechanisms for such locks have been used in connection with outer rotary knobs, examples of such being found in US. Pat. Nos. 2,231,908, 2,666,320 and 2,795,129. It is well known that rotary knobs, such as disclosed in these patents, project substantially outwardly from doors on which they are mounted, and as such, are not the most advantageous when used on bathroom or similar doors in travel trailers, mobile homes and the like, wherein space is usually at a premium.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The emergency lock release of this invention involves a pushbutton mounted for rotary and axial movements in a handle member fixed to one side, such as the outerside, of a door, the door being provided at its opposite or inner side with a latch mechanism including a latch movable between latched and unlatched positions, and a lock for the latch, the lock being movable between latch locking and latch released positions. A stem extends axially of and is operatively coupled to the pushbutton for common axial and rotary movements therewith, the stem being engageable with the latch mechanism to move the latch to its unlatched position responsive to axial movement of the pushbutton in one direction. The stem moves the lock in a latch releasing direction responsive to rotation of the pushbutton on its axis. The pushbutton has an outer end provided with an axially outwardly opening recess for reception of a screwdriver bit or similar tool, whereby rotation may be imparted to the pushbutton.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary exploded perspective of a door and door latch incorporating the emergency lock release of this invention; 7

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of the outer door handle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken substantially on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, showing different positions of some of the parts;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a detail in section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, a conventional door frame is shown fragmentarily and indicated at 1, the same including a stop shoulder 2 having abutting relationship with the free edge portion of a door 3 mounted in the frame 1 by means of the usual hinges, not shown. A stationary strike element 4 is mounted on the door frame I for engagement with a cooperating latch element 5 that is pivotally mounted in a mounting frame 6, for swinging movements into and out of latching engagement with the strike 4.

The mounting frame 6 comprises a base portion 7 that is rigidly secured to the inner surface 8 of the door 3 by means of a pair of mounting screws 9, a pair of laterally spaced outwardly projecting legs 10, and a bridging portion 11 connecting the outer ends of the leg portions 10. The latch element 5 is pivotally mounted between the leg portions 10, by means of a pivot pin 12. A latch releasing member 13 is pivotally mounted between the leg portions by means of a pivot pin 14, disposedon an axis parallel to the axis of the pivot pin 12, the latch releasing member 13 including a handle portion 15, a lip 16, a hook portion 17, and a shoulder 18. The shoulder 18 engages the bridging portion 11 to limit pivotal movement of the latch releasing member 13 in one direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the latch element 5 is formed to provide a hook portion 19 having hooking engagement with the hook portion 17, and a coil compression spring 20 interposed between the latch element 5 and latch releasing member 13, yieldingly urges the latch element 5 toward latching engagement with the strike element 4 and the shoulder 18 toward engagement with the bridging portion 11. Movement of the latch element 5 in an unlatching direction is limited by engagement of rear edge portions 21 of the latch element 5 with a pair of shoulders 22 formed in the leg portions l0.

A rotary locking element 23 is journaled in the base portion 7, the locking element 23 having a locking lug portion 24 that is movable toward and away from a locking position rearwardly of a finger 25 integrally formed with the latch element 5 and projecting inwardly toward the door 3. The locking element 23 is provided with a radially projecting handle portion 26 that extends outwardly through a slot 27 in one of the leg finger 25 and in the path of movement of the latch element 5 toward its unlatched position. A resilient plate like member 28 underlies the locking element 23 and holds the same in place, the member 28 being formed to provide a detent portion 29 that engages a notch, not shown, in the locking element 23 to releasably hold the same in a latch released position.

The mounting frame 6 overlies an opening 30 extending transversely through the door 3, the locking element 23 having an axial opening 31 therethrough axially aligned with the opening 30. A fixed handle member 32 is formed to provide a pair of laterally spaced parallel bosses 33 that extend partially through suitable openings in the door 3, the bosses 33 having threaded openings 34 therein for reception of the mounting screws 9, whereby the mounting frame 6 and handle 32 are rigidly secured to opposite sides of the door. As shown, the handle member 32 is formed to provide a generally cylindrical skirt 35 that extends partially through a. diametrically enlarged portion 36 of the opening 30, the handle member 32 and skirt 35 defining a circular opening 37 therethrough coaxial with the opening 30. A mounting sleeve 38 is axially slidably received in the-opening 37, and is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed radially outwardly projecting keys 39 that are axially slidably received in cooperating key ways or slots 40 in the skirt 35, whereby to hold the mounting sleeve 38 against rotary movement with respect to the handle member 32. As shown, the mounting sleeve 38 is tubular, having an axial passage 41 therethrough, the passage 41 having diametrically enlarged inner and outer end portions 42 and 43 respectively, these enlarged end portions being connected by an axially extended groove 44. The inner diametrically en larged portion 42 is formed to provide a pair of stop lugs 45 and 46, see particularly FIG. 5.

The emergency lock release of this invention comprises an elongated generally cylindrical pushbutton 47 coaxially mounted in the sleeve 38 for rotary movement therein and for common axial movements therewith, the pushbutton 47 having a diametrically enlarged head portion 48 disposed within the diametrically enlarged portion 43 of the sleeve 38, the outer end of the head 48 being coplanar with the adjacent end of the mounting sleeve 38. Axially inwardly of the head 48, the pushbutton 47 is hollow to define a recess 49, and adjacent its inner end, the pushbutton 47 is formed to provide a radially outwardly projecting lug or key 50 that is movable through the groove 44 to be disposed within the diametrically enlarged inner end portion 42 of the passage or opening 41 when the pushbutton 47 is fully received in the mounting sleeve 38. When properly disposed for operation, the lug or key 50 is disposed between the stop lugs 45 and 46 remote from the groove 44, as shown in FIG. 5. Also adjacent its inner end, the pushbutton 47 is formed to provide an axially inwardly opening notch 51 for reception of a lug portion 52 of the diametrically enlarged head 53 of a stem 54 that extends coaxially of the pushbutton 47, the head 53 being received in the recess 49. The stem 54 is axially slidably received in the central opening 31 in the locking element 23, the stem 54 and opening 31 being cross sectionally rectangular, so that rotation of either the locking element 23 or stem 54 imparts similar rotation to the other thereof. A coil compression spring 55 is inter posed between the stem head 53 and the retainer plate 28 to yieldingly hold the stem 54 in operative engagement with the pushbutton 47 for common axial and rotary movements. At its outer end, the pushbutton 49 is provided with an axially outwardly opening groove 56 for reception of a screwdriver bit, coin or other tool by means of which the pushbutton 4'7, stem 54 and locking element 23 may be rotated from the outer side of the door 3.

As above indicated, the latch element 5 is disengaged from the strike element 4 by pivotal movement of the latch releasing member 13. Pivotal movement is imparted to the latch releasing member 13 from the inner side of the door 3 by movement of the handle portion 15 toward the adjacent side 8 of the door 3. Latch releasing rotation is imparted to the member 13 from the outer side of the door by movement of the pushbutton 47 and mounting sleeve 38 axially inwardly toward the door. When the pushbutton 47 and mounting sleeve 38 are pushed axially inwardly, the stem 54 engages the lip 16, imparting rotary movement to the member 13 in a direction to move the latch element 5 to its unlatched position out of engagement with the strike element 4. Normally, when the room to which access is bad through the opening closed by the door 3 is occupied, the door is locked by merely swinging the locking element 23 to its latch locking position. When the latch element 5 is thus locked, the pushbutton 47 cannot be moved axially inwardly due to the interconnection between the latch element 5 and the latch releasing member 13. Thus, a person desiring to enter the room closed by the door 3 determines immediately that the room is occupied. In the event that a small child become accidentally locked in the room, or an older person become physically incapacitated while in the room, and cannot unlock the door, it is only necessary to insert a screwdriver bit or coin into the slot or groove 56 and turn the pushbutton 47, stem 54 and locking element 23 in a direction to release the latch element 5, after which the pushbutton 47 may be pressed axially inwardly to unlatch the door and open the same.

While I have shown and described a commercial embodiment of my emergency lock release, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification, and that modification may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An emergency lock release for a latch mechanism, said latch mechanism comprising, a latch movable between latched and unlatched positions and a locking element movable between latch locking and releasing positions, said latch mechanism having means for mounting the same on one side of the door; said lock release including, a handle member adapted to be fixedly mounted on the opposite side of the door and having a generally cylindrical opening therethrough, a push button, a sleeve member mounting said push button in said opening coaxially therewith for axial sliding movement toward and away from said latch mechanism and for rotary movements of said push button on its own axis when said handle member and latch mechanism are mounted in opposed operative relationship, and a stem connected to said push button for common movements therewith, said stem being engageable with the locking element for common movement therewith and responsive to movement of said push button in one direction to move the latch to its unlatched position, said sleeve and handle member having inter-engaging portions holding said sleeve against rotation in said opening, said push button being coaxially disposed in said sleeve for rotation relative thereto and having an outer enddefining an opening for reception of a tool for imparting rotation to said push button and stem in a direction to move said locking element to its latch releasing position.

2. The emergency lock release defined in claim 1 in which said sleeve member defines an axial opening therethrough, said opening including diametrically enlarged inner and outer end portions and an axial groove connecting said enlarged portions, said outer end of the pushbutton being diametrically enlarged and contained in said enlarged outer end of the opening, said pushbutton having radially outwardly projecting lugs movable through said axial groove when said pushbutton is inserted through said opening, and received in the enlarged inner end portion of said opening upon limited rotary movement of the pushbutton relative to said sleeve member to limit axially outward movement of the pushbutton relative to the sleeve member.

3. The emergency lock release defined in claim 1 in which said sleeve has an outer end coplanar with the outer end of said pushbutton. 

1. An emergency lock release for a latch mechanism, said latch mechanism comprising, a latch movable between latched and unlatched positions and a locking element movable between latch locking and releasing positions, said latch mechanism having means for mounting the same on one side of the door; said lock release including, a handle member adapted to be fixedly mounted on the opposite side of the door and having a generally cylindrical opening therethrough, a push button, a sleeve member mounting said push button in said opening coaxially therewith for axial sliding movement toward and away from said latch mechanism and for rotary movements of said push button on its own axis when said handle member and latch mechanism are mounted in opposed operative relationship, and a stem connected to said push button for common movements therewith, said stem being engageable with the locking element for common movement therewith and responsive to movement of said push button in one direction to move the latch to its unlatched position, said sleeve and handle member having inter-engaging portions holding said sleeve against rotation in said opening, said push button being coaxially disposed in said sleeve for rotation relative thereto and having an outer end defining an opening for reception of a tool for imparting rotation to said push button and stem in a direction to move said locking element to its latch releasing position.
 2. The emergency lock release defined in claim 1 in which said sleeve member defines an axial opening therethrough, said opening including diametrically enlarged inner and outer end portions and an axial groove connecting said enlarged portions, said outer end of the pushbutton being diametrically enlarged and contained in said enlarged outer end of the opening, said pushbutton having radially outwardly projecting lugs movable through said axial groove when said pushbutton is inserted through said opening, and received in the enlarged inner end portion of said opening upon limited rotary movement of the pushbutton relative to said sleeve member to limit axially outward movement of the pushbutton relative to the sleeve member.
 3. The emergency lock release defined in claim 1 in which said sleeve has an outer end coplanar with the outer end of said pushbutton. 